Dan Yim

  Office: AC 304
 Ext: 6485
 P.O. Box: 96
 E-mail: dyim@bethel.edu

Academic Degrees

• Ph.D., University of Southern California

Short Biography

As an undergrad, I wanted to study law and make a heap of money.  One of my friends suggested that I take a couple of philosophy classes, and so I did.  My first philosophy class was a course in formal logic, taught by a philosopher from Austria who barely spoke English.  That class was really good.  My second class was a course on moral philosophy, taught by a philosopher who thought that there was no such thing as moral knowledge.  From then on I was hooked.  Those classes ensured that I would neither be a lawyer nor rich.  I went on to graduate school near my home, and now I'm living in Minnesota after having lived in southern California my whole life.  The faculty at Bethel told me that I would enjoy the warm winters here. 

Areas of Interest

My interests include early modern philosophy (Descartes through Hume), metaphysics, epistemology (especially traditional questions about the structure of justification), the curious, lasting power of utilitarian moral philosophy, and the intersections between philosophy and popular culture.

Current Work

“The Irrelevance of Resemblance for Lockian Perception of Bodies.” Locke Studies: An Annual Journal of Locke Research (2004): 123-43.

“The Logic and Mill's Infamous Proof in Utilitarianism.” British Journal for the History of Philosophy 16 (November, 2008): 773-88.

"Fashioning One's Moral Sensibilities," to appear in the edited anthology Fashion and Philosophy by Wiley-Blackwell.

"Friendship on 30 Rock: what a Greek philosopher can tell us about companionship," to appear in the edited anthology 30 Rock and Philosophy by Wiley-Blackwell.